Language, identity, and resistance: a stance theory analysis in dead poets society

Situated in the conservative milieu of 1950s Welton Academy, Dead Poets Society offers a lens to explore the negotiation of identity and authority within educational discourse. This study applies Du Boiss Stance Theory to analyze how evaluative, positional, and alignment stances are constructed through teacher-student and peer interactions. Using qualitative discourse analysis grounded in the stance triangle framework, the research systematically examines transcribed classroom dialogues and peer conversations. The analysis concentrates on two questions: how is stance constructed by teacher discourse in pedagogical interactions, and how do students negotiate and realign stance in peer and hierarchical dialogues. Findings reveal that Mr. Keatings multimodal stance-takingcombining linguistic choices with embodied actionssubverts institutional norms, promoting student agency. Students, in turn, exhibit increasing stance shifts toward self-authorship and collective alignment, demonstrating that stance-taking serves as a crucial mechanism for identity negotiation, solidarity formation, and resistance within the educational setting.